27 clubs write an open letter to the government asking to help reverse the controversial decision to scrap FA Cup replays.
Football owners and chairmen across the country are backing Mirror Football’s campaign to save FA Cup replays, something which can be a vital lifeline for clubs and communities.
A letter written to the FA and to Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lucy Frazer calls for the games to be reinstated and also claim that the move has been driven by top Premier League clubs and risks widening football’s wealth gap.
Fair Game is gathering support from clubs across the pyramid to reform how the game is run
Today @dailymirror ran this article on our campaign to save the FA Cup. Thanks to @AndyBurnhamGM and @timfarron for their support.
Join us!https://t.co/8E4ptb7WfH
— Fair Game (@FairGameUK) May 1, 2024
Kendal Town FC is a wonderful football club, in the heart of our community, run solely by volunteers.
So much money in football is hogged by the Premier League – we need a fairer distribution so that fantastic non-league clubs like Kendal Town can have a bright future. pic.twitter.com/hbiaYz5TrY
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 24, 2024
OPEN LETTER:
Dear Lucy Frazer,
We want to save the FA Cup.
The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world and the decision to remove FA Cup replays from the first-round proper further undermines its prestige and does nothing to help protect our cherished football pyramid.
The Premier League’s influence in this decision is yet another example of football’s growing divide that has seen the gaps between and within divisions grow at all levels.
Participating clubs in the FA Cup were not consulted. Our clubs as well as the fans have been let down.
We are determined to see this decision reversed and fully support amending the Football Governance Bill to make sure such a move can never happen again without the backing of a majority of eligible clubs. FA Cup replays create lasting memories for generations of football fans – and it is those memories that are priceless.
Go to any club and there will be photos on the walls of great Cup memories, while their fans will be able to recall those magical FA Cup nights.
We all remember ties like Cambridge United v Manchester United (2015), Hereford United v Newcastle United (1972), Leeds United v Wimbledon (1975), Arsenal v Leyton Orient (2011), and Watford v Tranmere (2020).
This whole flawed process has devalued the most prized domestic cup competition in the world.
It is not just about finances, it is about the power dynamics within football. That needs to be overhauled.
Concerns about a packed calendar also do not stand up.
In the last 10 years, there have been fewer than 10 occasions when a club playing in European football has been taken to an FA Cup replay.
Meanwhile, a Premier League club that qualifies for the Champions League – and there will be only four of them in the 2024/25 season – will play a minimum of 50 matches. That includes 38 league games, at least one in the FA Cup, one in the EFL Cup, and 10 Champions League group-stage fixtures.
However, League One and League Two clubs – and there are 48 of them – will play a minimum of 51 matches (46 in the league, a minimum of one FA Cup and one EFL Cup tie, and three EFL trophy group games). That’s 11 more than Premier League clubs that don’t qualify for Europe.
In the National League the situation is also packed with a minimum of 48 matches for their 72 clubs (46 in the League, and a minimum of one each in the FA Cup and the FA Trophy).
This decision needs to be overturned.
This decision has become totemic for how the game is being run. Decisions are being made behind closed doors. There is a lack of transparency, a lack of consistency, and a lack of fairness.
We, the undersigned, call for an immediate reinstatement of FA Cup replays and are encouraging all supporters to lobby their MPs to back the Fair Game amendment.
Neil Hart, Chief Executive, Bolton Wanderers
Nick Hawker, Chair, Exeter City
Neil Peters, Head of Business Operations, Wycombe Wanderers
Nigel Clibbens, Chief Executive, Carlisle United
Clive Nates, Chair, Lincoln City
Mick Buckley, Chair, AFC Wimbledon
Andy Holt, Owner, Accrington Stanley
Gareth Evans, Secretary, Newport County AFC
Anthony Hall, Chief Executive, Swindon Town
Mark Palios, Co-owner, Tranmere Rovers
Jason Stockwood, Co-owner, Grimsby Town
Bill Waterson, Co-Chairman, Altrincham FC
Neil Pinkerton, Chair, Gateshead FC
Damian Irvine, Chief Executive, Ebbsfleet United
Simon Gauge, Chair, Rochdale AFC
Matt and Julie-Anne Uggla, Co-owners, York City FC
Marc White, Owner, Dorking Wanderers
Geoff Thompson, Chair, South Shields FC
Mike Vickers, Director, Chester FC
David Johnston, Chief Executive, Darlington FC
Stephen Cleeve, Co-owner, King’s Lynn Town FC
Oliver Ash, Co-owner, Maidstone United
David Netherstreet, Club President, Tonbridge Angels FC
David Boggins, Chair, Hemel Hempstead Town FC
Jack Miller, Chair, Basingstoke Town
Paul Leary, Chair, Marine FC
Jim Ayres, Business Manager, Salisbury FC
Phil Young, Chair, Bury FC
An Open Letter from @FairGameUK:
“The decision to remove FA Cup replays from the first-round proper further undermines its prestige and does nothing to help protect our cherished football pyramid.”#SaveTheFACuphttps://t.co/ZkInwLojxJ
— Fair Game (@FairGameUK) May 1, 2024
Football chiefs from across the football pyramid joined forces today in an angry riposte to the flawed consultation process that has seen FA Cup replays being jettisoned from the first-round proper from next season.
The clubs, including three past winners of the trophy – Bolton Wanderers, Bury and AFC Wimbledon – this year’s FA Cup heroes Maidstone United and over 20 others, have now penned a letter to the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer backing a Fair Game amendment to the Football Governance Bill.
The decision was made by the Premier League and the FA in a response to pressure on the football calendar. The reaction from the rest of the pyramid has been almost entirely hostile with a vast majority of clubs kept in the dark.
The amendment demands that any change to the FA Cup must require a majority of eligible clubs to back it.
The letter, which has also been sent to the Premier League, the FA and the EFL, said:
“We want to save the FA Cup. The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world and the decision to remove FA Cup replays from the first-round proper further undermines its prestige and does nothing to help protect our cherished football pyramid.
“The Premier League’s influence in this decision is yet another example of football’s growing divide that has seen the gaps between and within divisions grow at all levels.
“Participating clubs in the FA Cup were not consulted. Our clubs as well as the fans have been let down.”
The letter goes on to question the pressure on the calendar. It states:
“A Premier League club that qualifies for the Champions League – and there will be only four of them in the 2024/25 season – will play a minimum of 50 matches. That includes 38 league games, at least one in the FA Cup, one in the EFL Cup, and 10 Champions League group-stage fixtures.
“However, League One and League Two clubs – and there are 48 of them – will play a minimum of 51 matches (46 in the league, a minimum of one FA Cup and one EFL Cup tie, and three EFL trophy group games). That’s 11 more than Premier League clubs that don’t qualify for Europe.”
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, added:
“The anger from across all levels of football is huge. Sadly this is totemic of the growing arrogance at the top of the game, and the disdain they show for the rest of the football pyramid.
“Our latest research has shown that the gap in and between divisions is widening at every level. The new regulator needs to step in and reverse that damaging trend that is destroying the game’s heritage and turning the pyramid into a greasy pole.”
Fair Game’s lawyers have prepared an amendment to section 54(8) of the Bill, which seeks to deal with the FA Cup changes, and proposed changes to other competitions, by stating that any consultation must include all eligible clubs and demonstrate that a majority of those clubs approve of the change. If the changes were to have implication for distributions of revenues, they would require approval by the regulator.
This is how fans reacted as 27 clubs write an open letter to the government asking to help reverse the controversial decision to scrap FA Cup replays…
@marowe1988: Cant see daggers on there. Wonder why? 🤔🤔🤔
@AccyForza: Great to see chairman sticking together for the common good
@knicky03: The greedy bunch have huge squads and play fringe players until the serious rounds so no need to penalise small and non league clubs.
@phil_walker: Quite simple boycott the cup
@TheDB30: Good to see @NeilPinkerton on there. @GatesheadFC on the right side of history 💪
@longsden: Great that despite our battle cry we’re also joining other clubs to raise our discontent. We can’t forget how much we were screwed as a lower league club by this change.
@joewxm1864: sign it shaun harvey you spineless prick
@walocmag: Get on it KT, plenty of EFL chairman standing together to save FA Cup replays. #ntfc
@SthStndMstermen: Good to see. Hopefully we get our FA Cup back 🙏🏻 #YCFC #SaveTheFACup
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